In the fourteenth year of the Wanli Calendar, probably from about October, the Wanli Emperor began his journey to the Dynasty. As an emperor, he should have sat in a precarious manner to deal with the affairs of the dynasty, the upper dynasty is one of the things that must be done, but Wanli is not, the emperor is rich in the world, what he wants to do is of course his own decision, and the upper dynasty also depends on the mood.
The officials of the Ming Dynasty are different, the so-called "Wen Death Advice, Martial Death War" in the civilian officials are so persistent, the emperor does not do the right thing, the officials have the right to intervene, no matter what you are, as long as you do not do it correctly, you have to scold you. Lu Hongchun, who was then the head of the ceremonial department, said:
"Since September, His Majesty has been exempt from the DPRK for several days, and the day before yesterday he issued a dizziness and weakness, and temporarily suspended the DPRK. His Majesty's Spring and Autumn are in full swing, and all kinds of diseases are not appropriate. It is not appropriate to have it, to hurt the heart of the Virgin, to frighten the listening of the subjects, and because of the abolition of the ancestral ceremony, the subject does not know why His Majesty is at ease. ”
The emperor had not ascended to the throne since September, and a few days ago he said that he was dizzy and had canceled the feast. His Majesty is in his prime, and these ailments are undeserved. If the illness that should not have been had it had been, it would have hurt the empress's heart, and it might have distorted the external audio-visual, and Her Majesty could still act as if nothing had happened? Lu Hongchun's count from benevolence and morality to the emperor's private life was all counted, which really made the Wanli Emperor intolerable.
Lu Hongchun's spanking by the dismissal was inevitable, and the Wanli strike lasted for nearly 30 years, so why can the country still function normally for such a long time?
Wanli firmly held imperial power
The hereditary system ensures that the emperor can succeed him, but whether he can always be the emperor depends on the emperor himself. Usurpation of power and seizure of the throne is not uncommon, even the orthodox Ming Dynasty in China has many embankments for this. In the first ten years of Wanli's reign, the imperial court had Zhang Juzheng sitting in the seat, because the Wanli Emperor was relatively small and could only resign himself to it.
During Zhang Ju's tenure, not only the imperial court ministers, but even Empress Li obeyed his words, on the one hand, Zhang Juzheng's level was very high, and the emperor was respectful and courteous to him; on the other hand, a minister, who did so, was undoubtedly a threat to the imperial power. Fortunately, Zhang Ju is a righteous minister who serves the country and the people, otherwise the country may face a crisis.
Eunuchs can hold great power, but the power of eunuchs comes from the imperial power, and they cannot enter and leave the palace at will, so as long as the emperor gives orders, it is easy to kill the eunuchs. Wan Li was well aware of the stakes, so after Zhang Juzheng's death, he wanted to take over the imperial power immediately, and if he wanted to stand out among the many forces, even the emperor had to work hard.
Just like the general who commands the army, if you want to gain a foothold in the army, you must have the corresponding military merit and prestige, that is, someone must support you, and if there is no one to support, the emperor will also fall. After Zhang Juzheng's death, the suppressed officials could finally catch their breath, and then the snowflake-like impeachment song flew to the Wanli Table case.
After much thought, Wan Li decided to use this to abolish Zhang Juzheng's exploits, and also eliminated many of Zhang Juzheng's henchmen. Historical records:
"Sincerely wait for his sons and brothers to hide, and get gold and more than 100,000 taels of platinum." His eldest son, the chief of the Ceremonial Department, Jing Xiu, was unable to overcome the punishment, and falsely sent 300,000 gold to Shengwu, Seal, and Fu Zuozhou, and sought to hang himself. ”
Zhang Juzheng was robbed of his home after his death, with 10,000 taels of gold and 100,000 taels of silver, the eldest son was forced to commit suicide, and his family members also fled to the death. After consultation with the ministers, a way to live was left for Zhang Juzheng's family, and Zhang Juzheng's power had disappeared above the imperial court. From this we can see Wanli's wrist, when it is time to strike, resolute and decisive, without dragging mud and water, which is obviously a politician's style.
Not going to the dynasty is the freedom of Wanli, and to a certain extent, it is impossible for Wanli to do nothing, and most of the major military affairs are all orders from Wanli.
The state has a righteous subject, which has a certain deterrent effect on adultery and evil
In addition to the question of the emperor, it is necessary to talk about the matter of the minister, from the day the cabinet was established, the power of the civil officials was gradually strengthened, and once developed to the point of being unmanageable, so the emperor often had to use eunuchs to balance the civilian officials.
The emperor did not go to the court for a long time, and even the ministers did not see, then the person who passed the message inside and outside the palace was crucial, this person was a eunuch, there was no WeChat and no mobile phone at that time, it was difficult to prove the accuracy of the message, so the eunuch could occupy a place, and even compete with the cabinet.
Feng Bao was Zhang Juzheng's inner palace assistant and played a positive role in Zhang Juzheng's reforms, but after Wanli came to power, he was quickly overthrown. The eunuch who helped Wanli solve Feng Bao was a eunuch named Zhang Whale, and after Feng Bao fell, Zhang Whale took control of the East Factory, which should also be Wanli's arrangement.
The Wanli Emperor also reused some eunuchs to a certain extent, but due to Feng Bao's relationship, his trust in eunuchs was also partially reduced.
Historical records:
"Whaley Congo, the emperor leans on it." It is used in the East Factory and in the Palm Inner Province for kuyin, which is quite worrying about the times. ”
Zhang Whale has a decisive personality, And Wanli is very important, and he is in charge of the Confidential Seal while in charge of the East Factory, and even the first assistant of the cabinet is jealous of him.
There are not no good kinds among the eunuchs, but there are too few, and Zhang Whale also belongs to the treacherous and evil party, and during his term of office, he has repeatedly accepted bribes, monopolized power for personal gain, and done a lot of bad things with his party. However, Wanli turned a blind eye to this, because Zhang Whale had helped Wanli get rid of Feng Bao, the emperor pretended to be confused, and the minister was not confused, and gave Chen Shangxiang, Wu Wenzi, Yang Wenhuan and others many times to the incident, demanding that Zhang Whale be strictly dealt with.
It was the ministers' zero tolerance for adultery and evil that curbed its development and growth, and the Wanli Dynasty was not without adultery, on the one hand, the emperor was taboo, on the other hand, the ministers were too strong, and the living space of the adulterer was compressed very small, unable to grow happily.
Wanli repeatedly wanted to protect Zhang Whale, but the minister's attack was too fierce, and Zhang Whale could not reuse it, so he had to be abandoned by Wanli. The civil officials of the Wanli Dynasty were still very backbone, whether they faced the emperor or the traitors, they all gave advice without hesitation, and they did not give up until they reached their goal.
The emperor's sluggishness also had its negative effects
The Wanli Emperor's political skills were very clever, and he once firmly held power in his hands, but slacking off is slacking off, staying in the inner palace all day, not going to the dynasty, must be inferior to those diligent emperors. Even Wanli was rare for even cabinet ministers to pass on their will, which was bound to go wrong and delay many important military and state affairs.
When the Jurchen clan rose, why wanli did not detect it in advance, this can not put all the responsibility on Li Chengliang, if Wanli is diligent and diligent, it is very likely to eliminate Nurhaci before he starts, the national fortunes will change.
Speaking of Wanli's issue of establishing a prince, from Zhu Changluo's birth to the time he was finally made crown prince, it took fifteen years, and Wanli also fought for this prince and his minister for fifteen years. Saying that Zhu Changluo was incompetent or incompetent was something that Wanli could not predict, but the ten years he had been fighting with his ministers had delayed a lot of things.
Wave after wave of ministers, wave after wave of dismissals by emperors, the disappearance of officials, who is responsible for the normal operation of the country, is about to become an anarchic land. By the thirty years of wanli, Nanjing and Beijing, Shangshu was missing three, shilang was missing ten, and local inspectors were missing three, and Wanli did not pay any attention to this, nor did officials replace them, so it was consumed.
As a result, the government is idle, official documents are not approved, political affairs are delayed, and there are constant party strife and factions within the civil service, which is a precursor to the subjugation of the country.
Even if your level of ten thousand calendars is high, and the country is made into this virtue, don't you have a responsibility? In the Battle of Salhu, the Ming army was destroyed, and the timid fig leaf was unveiled. If you only look at the process, Wanli still has three major signs to support the façade, and if you look at the results, you really can't look at it directly.